Those pictures are just a taste of how much fun I had. If you’re an old school Doctor Who fan, then check this out:

That’s me with Sylvester McCoy, the Seventh Doctor! We chatted for a few minutes backstage before the Paul and Storm/Jonathan Coulton/Molly Lewis concert. I only got to see the first few minutes of the music because I had a panel at the same time and had to run. But Doctor McCoy (see what I did there?) was great. I was on a panel — really, a goofy quiz show that was uproarious and maybe a little naughty — with him the next night (and Doc Hammer from Venture Brothers; here’s proof) and it was awesome.

In fact, I’ll admit I felt like an A-list geek the whole con. It was amazing and gratifying and wonderful. I have been a fanboy my whole life; I went to science fiction cons when I was in high school and doted over my favorite authors. I stopped going for a long time, but then started back up again a few years ago, and now they’re magical all over again. It’s incredible to me that I not only get to meet so many people I truly admire, but that I also get to call them friends.

Comments (9)

Keith Bowden

Very cool! Sylvester McCoy is a vastly underrated Doctor – his first season was shaky script-wise and so underfunded you could almost see the “ACME” on the cardboard. But the final seasons revealed his Doctor definitely had a dark side and we got to see Daleks fly for the first time on his watch. It was so excellent that he was able to pass the torch (however briefly) to Paul McGann in the US telefilm.

Thanks Phil for coming out to the Con and making it that much more interesting.

I practically lived in the reality track rooms at the Hilton (Science/Space/Skeptics/EFF). I thought the quality of the speakers were pretty amazing.

When I took a break and had a few at the bar in the Marriott, it was like the bar scene in the first Star Wars movie. Sensory overload. It literally took days to recover from DragonCon. Next year I’ll have to split time at the lake and the Con on Labor Day weekend just to decompress.

And thank YOU, Phil, for signing that NASA handout for my girlfriend. She has it framed now.

As for McCoy… I did see the simulcast of one of his chat sessions and was reminded how Doctor Who had a tendency to cast comedians as The Doctor. McCoy is a very funny man. …and a very serious Doctor. Interesting how that works.
It’d be interesting to see him on the new Doctor Who… as Mysterious Man #2, say.

MarcusBailius — Peter Jackson is a massive Whovian (I’m guessing it was somewhat painful to accept that indeed, Ian McKellan would make a better Gandalf than Tom Baker; Tom Baker had auditioned for the part, but it’s hard to beat McKellan). There’s a story floating around on the Internet; apparently early in filming, he invited a couple of people from the production over to his house, which is stuffed with cool things he’s collected through the years, most of it nerdy. He apparently likes to do this, just to see the reaction from people. On this occasion, one of the guests was Sylvester McCoy, and he was anxious to see how long it would take him to spot one of his prize pieces — the actual question-mark sweater McCoy had worn as the Doctor. 😉 McCoy was apparently suitably impressed, and touched that it had meant so much to Jackson.

“Ghost Light” is one of my fave McCoy stories, along with “Silver Nemesis” and “Battlefield”. And though I didn’t like it the first time I saw it, I really like “Greatest Show in the Galaxy” now.